Despot Đurađ Branković built the fortress, and the article names no architect. Work began in autumn 1428, though the lead says 1427, and the inner city was completed in 1430. The fortified suburb was finished by 1439.
It covers 11.3 hectares (28 acres). About 4,900 feet (1.5 km) of walls carry 25 towers of roughly 82 feet (25 m). The article calls the style Serbo-Byzantine, modeled on the walls of Constantinople. Brick was reused from Roman sites.
On June 5, 1941, an ammunition explosion killed about 2,500 people. Restoration ran mostly from 1970 to 1995, and the article gives the protection date as both 1946 and 1979. The fortress is now used as a city park.
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